Film Blog by Chloe Holgate
Film Blog by Chloe Holgate
As more people are touched by dementia each year, film has started to explore how not only those with the disease are affected, but how it ripples through their families and friends.
Explored through many different genres, I’ve compiled a list of films that look at the fears, the heartbreak, and the little joys still found when someone is living with dementia.
This last year alone, three brilliant films have been released that have looked at dementia in very different ways.
The Father, released in January, saw Anthony Hopkins win an Oscar for his sensitive and moving performance as a man struggling with the realities of his changing mind. The film focuses on both his struggle to accept help, and the changing relationship with his daughter as she tries to support him. Not only a deeply moving, this film has been credited for its honest and often raw portrayal of dementia on those in the early stages of the disease, and the ones caring for them.
This summer we also saw the release of Supernova. Here a couple head out on a road trip through England, visiting old haunts, friends and family, as they come to terms with one of them being diagnosed with early onset dementia. The story looks at the difficult conversations faced by couples as they try to figure out what to do after diagnosis, especially between couples younger than we generally expect.
Our last film from this year is completely different in that it is a horror film. Relic, available now on Amazon, is an Australian film, that uses themes and traits of horror to show how we lose ourselves to dementia. This is a slowly paced film, that uses its uneasy atmosphere to give a sense of knowing something isn’t right.
Other films that explore Dementia are Still Alice (2014), Away From Her (2007), The Savages (2007), Quartet (2012) and Alive Inside (2004).
Written by Chloe Holgate